Rotary dicing machine



June 27, 1939.

T. F. HoRNuNG 2,163,878

ROTARY DICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l 7'/MoTHY F Hok/vulve BY @Lon/V9 M rf ATTORNEY.

- June 27, 1939. T, F HQRNUNG 2,163,878

ROTARY nrcm MACHINE Filed sept. 14. 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. cav-HY EHoR/vU/vs 77M TL9 5- 13u/74,0% 2 Z ,L eg;

' RNEY.

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June 27, l939- T. F. HORNUNG ROTARY DICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2LT. Z4.

INVENTOR.

MOTHYF/YafNZ/Na www ATTORNEYS.

Patented `une 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in a rotary dicing machine, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

The commercial food dicer rst slices the material into flat slices and then these are fed one at a time onto a bed where the material is diced by a cutter, moved at right angles to the plane of the bed, and carrying a plurality of knives that cross each other for formingfcutting dies that are square, rectangular or of any other desired shape. The dicing member reciprocates and this requires a denite amount of time for each stroke of the dicer and for the clearing of rthe bed of the diced material, so that the bed will be ready to receive the next layer or slice of material.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a dicer that rotates rather than reciprocates. The periphery of the rotary dicer is provided with intersecting knives that form dies of the desired shape. These dies have `outer and inner ends that are open. The material to be diced is fed to the outer surface of the dicer and is diced upon lbeing received inthe outer'ends of the dies. The diced material is-coniined within the dies by a casing that encloses the periphery of the rotary cutter with the exception of the feed entrance to the cutter. lIt will bev seen from this that as the cutter rotates, the material that enters the dies onthe vcutter periphery, will make a complete revolution with the cutter and then will be Jforced into the interior of the cutter by the next layer of material which is being fed into the cutter.` Of course, the diced material may drop by gravity into the interior of the cutter or rotary dicer` as it is carried over the topof the dicer and before it comes into contact with the next slice of material.

I provide novel means for expelling the material that drops or is forced from the dies into the interior of the cutter or dicer, and this means is formed from the spokes that support the periphery of the cutter. These spokes are arranged inthe shape of a spiral screw-ejector thatA will eject the diced material from one end of the cylindrical cutter or dicer. i

The device in its simplest arrangement consists of a feed belt that will convey the slices of material to the cutter or dicer, a rotary dicer which dices the material, and a belt or a table that will receive the diced material which is eX.- pelled by the ejector screw disposed within the cutter.

Other objects andadvantages will appear in belt (Cl. 14S-78) the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, .5 in which Figure 1 is a top plan View of the device;

Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is an end elevation;

Figure 4 is an end view of the rotary dicing l0 head;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section through Figure 4, portions of the rotary dicing head being shown in elevation;

Figure 6 is a section along the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the rotary dicer;

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of ay portion of the dicing head periphery;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the combined spokes and screw ejector for the diced material;

Figure l0 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the operation of the device;

Figures l1 and 12 are schematic views illustrating a step in the operation;

Figure 13 is a diagrammatic View similar to Figure 10, but showing the feedV belt in a different position with respect to the dicing unit; and

Figure 14 shows a blank form from which a cutting ring discand spokes are formed.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a frame indicated generally at I, and this frame carries guides 2 and 3 in which bearings 4 and 5 are slidably mounted. Adjusting screws 6 and 'I are connected to the bearings 4 and 5 respectively. The bearings 4`and 5 rotatably carry pulleys 8 and 9 and these in turn support a feed I. The screws 6 and 'I may be adjusted for tightening the belt III to the desired extent and for shifting the entire belt longitudinally with respect to the frame l for a purpose hereinafter described.

The feed belt I0 may be actuated by any desired means and in Figures l and 2 I show a motor II operatively connected to a reduction gear mechanism indicated generally at I2 by a belt and pulleys indicated generally at I3. A silent chain drive, generally indicated at I4 connects the reduction gear mechanism I2 with 50 the pulley 8 and in this way the belt IIJ is moved so that its upper portion will move in the direction of the arrow b shown in Figure 1. The belt IIJ conveys slabs or slices of the material, to be diced, to a rotary dicer indicated generally at I5.

Before describing the rotary dicer in detail, it is best first to describe the frame structure that receives the dicer. This frame structure may be of any type desired and is shown consisting of four up-rights I8 that are supported by the frame and in reality form a part of the frame. Semicircular angle-iron members I'I are pivoted to two of the up-rights I6 at IB and are removably secured to the other two up-rights I6 by any suitable fastening members indicated generally at I9. Each angle iron I1 carries a guide 20 for a bearing block 2|. Each bearing block 2| carries guide pins 22, see Figures 2 and 5, and these are slidably received in a transverse member 23 carried by the guide 29. Coil springs 24 are mounted on the guide pins 22 and bear against the transverse member 23 and yieldingly urge the bearing blocks 2| downwardly. Nuts 25 are mounted on the guide pins 22 and may be adjusted for varying the compression of the springs 24. In this way the rotary dicer I5 may be yieldingly held against the belt IU at the desired pressure.

The rotary dicer or cutter head is shown in Figures 4 to 9 inclusive. The dicer comprises a shaft 26 that is rotatably received in the bearing blocks 2|, see Figure 5. On the shaft 26, I dispose a number of spacing members 2l, see Figures 6 and '7. These members support the spokes 28 of ring-shaped cutter discs 29. Each cutter disc is identical and I have shown one of these in development in Figure 14.

The ring disc 29 has a portion 30 that extends diametrically across the ring and is provided with a central opening 3| for receiving the shaft 26. 'Ihe portion 3D in reality forms two spokes 28 for the ring disc and these are shown in the shape of truncated triangles in Figure 14, although they may have parallel sides as shown in Figures 4, 6 and 9. The edges of the portion 30 are cut and bent along the dotted lines 32 for forming flanged sides to the spokes. The upper left and the lower right-hand flanges in Figure 14 are numbered 33 and are bent so as to extend at f right angles to the portion 30 in one direction,

while the upper right and lower left-hand flanges 34 are also bent at right-angles, but extend in the opposite direction.

These ring discs 29 are mounted on the shaft 26 and the spacing members 21 are provided with a length equal to the distance it is desired to space the ring discs 29 apart. The width of the flanges 33 and 34 is also equal to the length of the spacing members 21. When the ring discs are mounted on the shaft 26, they are rotated with respect to each other until the flanges 33 of all of the spokes abut the flanges 34 of adjacent spokes in the manner shown in Figures 6 and 9. This arrangement will form the spokes 28 into an ejecting screw for removing the diced material from the interior of the dicer I5.

It will further be noted that although the width of each spoke 28 may be the same throughout its length as shown in Figures 4, 6 and 9, or slightly triangular in` shape, as shown in Figure 14, the flanges of the adjacent spokes will abut at their outer ends and will form a material ejecting screw in which the face of each step in the screw will be in the shape of a triangle with the base of the triangle disposed at the ring portion of the disc 29 and the apex of the triangle disposed adjacent to the periphery of the member 28. After the ring discs 29 have been assembled on the shaft 26 and are rotated so that the outer ends of adjacent flanges will abut each other, the spokes 28 will take the positions shown in Figure 9, and may be locked in this position by nuts 35 screwed onto the shaft 26.

The peripheries of the ring discs 29 are sharpened so as to provide cutting edges 36, see Figure 5, and slits 31 are formed in the rings for receiving cross-knives 38, see Figure 8. The slits 3l are of a width equal to the thickness of the cross-knives 38 and may have a depth equal to one-half the width of the cross-knives. The cross-knives in turn are provided with slots 39, see Figure 8, of a thickness equal to the thickness of the discs 29 and a depth which may be equal to one-half the thickness of the knives 38. The ligure shows how the cross-knives 38 are placed in the slots 3l' and how the slots 39 receive the inner portions of the ring discs 29. It is obvious that the discs may have slots of a greater depth than the slots in the cross-knives if desired or vice versa.

In Figure 6, I show the flanges 33 lying in the same plane as the planes of the cutting knives 38 disposed adjacent to the outer ends of the flanges. In Figure 14 I illustrate the position occupied by the flanges 33 by the broken lines 33' and it will be noted that these lines are in direct alignment with two of the knife-receiving slits 31 provided in the ring portion 29. The flanges 33 and 34 of adjacent spokes abut each other at their outer ends as shown in Figure 6, and form a wedge whose apex is disposed at the ring 29. It is absolutely essential that this apex be disposed at the inner edge of a cutting knife 38 in order that material diced by the knife will not be impaled on the apex and thus prevent the proper functioning of the dicer, but instead will be guided into the interior of the dicer by the anges 33 and 34. In this way the material will contact with the apex only at a point where it has already been cut.

An end disc 40, shown in Figure 5, acts as a closure for one end of the wheel or cutter I5 and is slotted to receive the knives 38. The knives carry small projections 4I that may be twisted into a slight angular position after the knives are assembled in place and this will lock the knives to the end disc 49. The opposite end of the wheel or cutter I5 is provided with a ring disc 42 and this disc carries a ange 43 that is bent so as to constitute a discharge lip for the diced material received within the cutter. Figure 8 shows the end disc 42 With the lip 43 removed in order to show this disc provided with slots 44 for receiving projections 45 on the crossknives 38. These projectives are bent, as shown, for holding the knives in place. It will be noted that the slots in the end discs and 42 do not extend to the peripheries. In this way the crossknives are held against accidental removal. When it is desired to remove a cross-knife, the projections 4I and 45 are straightened and then the rim portions of the end discs 40 and 42 disposed adjacent to the knife ends are sprung outwardly a distance sufficient to free the projections 4I and 45 and this will permit the knife to be lifted out.

The dicing head as thus constructed is rotatably mounted in the bearing blocks 2| and these blocks in turn are slidably mounted in the guides 2|). The U-shaped cover I1 is swung into closed position and the springs 2'4 will yieldingly urge the cutter down upon the belt I0 so as to frictionally engage therewith. The movement of the belt will impart a rotary movement to the dicing head. The dicing head may be directly connected to the motor I I, if desired.

A guard 46 shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 encloses the periphery of the cutter I5.with the exception of an entrance opening 41. This guard is composed of a top piece 46a and a sliding front section 46h and a sliding rear section 46c. The top 46a is carried by a frame 48, see Figure 2, which in turn is attached to the bearing blocks 2| by bolts 49 or other suitable fastening means. The frame 48 holds the top section 46a. in a fixed position and concentric with the rotary cutting unit I5. e

The lower front section 46h is slidable in arcuate guides 58 carried by the top section 48a and this permits the front section 46h to be raised or lowered to vary the height of the slot 41 in accordance with the thickness of the material fed by the belt I8 into the cutter. The rear section 46c of the guard slides `over the top section 46a in arcuate channels 5I or other suitable guide means. The lower edge of the rear section 46c is placed near the belt I8 so that all of the material entering the cutter will pass within the rear section 46c and will be held against radial movement in an outward direction while being carried through a complete revolution of the cutter. It will be seen that after the material makes one complete revolution with the cutter, then the new material, being fed into the cutter, will force the diced material into the interior of the cutter.

Figure clearly shows the interior of the cutter I5 as being hollow with the exception of the spokes that are arranged in a spiral formfor ejecting the diced material from the lip 43 as the cutter rotates. In Figure 3, I show a chute 52 extending from the annular lip 43 to a conveyor 53. Figures l and 3 show the conveyor 53 operatively connected to a shaft 54 by bevel gears 55. 'I'he shaft 54 extendsfrom the reduction gear mechanism indicated generally at I2.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

Flat pieces of the material to be diced are placed upon the feed belt I8 and are delivered to the cutter I5. The thickness of the pieces placed upon the belt should not be greater than the height of the cross-knives 38 and the ring portions of the discs 28. The movement of the belt will rotate the cutter and will feed the material to the periphery of the cutter. The cutter will enter the material and will dice it. This diced material will be held against outward movement from the dies by the guard 46 and the diced material will either enter the interior of the cutter by gravity or will be forced into the interior after making one complete revolution with the cutter by coming into contact with a new piece of material entering the dies of the cutter. After the diced material leaves the dies formed bythe blades 29 and 38, it will be conveyed through the open end of the cylindrical cutter by the material ejecting spokes 28 and will pass over the annular lip 43. From here the diced material will be conveyed to the belt 53 by the chute 52 and may then be sorted or conveyed to any desired mechanism.

It will be seen that the spacing of the slits 31 in the rims 29 determine one dimension of the material to be diced. The distance between the discs will determine the other dimension. It is possible to change the size of the diced material and to make this material rectangular-shaped,

rather than square by removing certain crossknives 38 as required. This will form rectangular dies with a length that is a multiple of the width. It is, of course, to be understood that some slicing device, not shown, will be used to preslice the material to the desired thickness before delivering it to the belt I8. The thickness of this material will provide the third dimension of the diced material. This permits the cutter I5 to produce diced material of uniform thickness.

The pitch of the screw ejector is determined by the number of spokes 28 and the width of these spokes at their outer ends. In designing a cutting unit the most suitable pitch can be selected. Figure 5 shows every other disc 29 provided with spokes 28 and this permits small dicing to be accomplished without providing a multiplicity of spokes 28. Any desired number of discs 29, free of spokes 28, may be provided between discs that carry spokes.

Figure 2 shows the top of the belt I8 extending in a horizontal plane. It is possible to incline the belt as desired without affecting the operation of the device, providing the other parts of the device are brought into proper relative adjustment. The primary requirement as to the relative position of the cutting unit with respect to the belt I8 is that the rims of the discs 29 (cutting edges 36) and the outer edges of the cross-knives 38 be in contact with the surface of the belt which conveys the material to the cutter. The belt surface needs some support where it contacts with the cutter and this is provided by the pulley 8, see Figure 10. It is possible to cause the cutter I5 to contact with another portion of the belt and to support this belt portion by rollers, or a xed flat surface over which the belt would slide, or a large diameter drum disposed directly under the cutter. It is further possible to eliminate the belt and cause the cutter to ride directly on a roller, this roller being lined with a resilient material.

Thus far nothing has been said as to the angle assumed by the cross-knives in the discs 29. It is possible to mount these cross-knives so that they will extend radially from the cutter axis. I have found, however, that better cutting results are obtained if the knives are inclined from a radial position. In Figures 10, 11 and 12, I show diagrammatically the effect of inclining the crossknives. The cross-knives 38 are placed in the cutter I5 in Figure 10, so that an angle X is provided between the cross-knives 38 and radial lines extending from the cutter axis.

The angle X is a function of the radius R of the dicer I5, see Figure 10, the radius r of the inner circle I5a to which the blade 38 is tangent, and the thickness T of the material 51. By changing all three of these dimensions or any one or two of them, a desirable angle X can be selected for the knife 38. In this way different shapes of cubes can be produced. If the thickness T of the material 51 is such that the knife 38 will be at right angles to the belt I8 when entering the material, as shown by the knife 38a, in Figure l0, then a diamond piece shown at 51a in Figure ll will be cut. The leading and rear faces 51D and 51o of this piece will extend at an angle to the vertical line 56 which is approximately 1/2X.

Now suppose a piece 58 is twice the thickness of the piece 51. The cross-knife 38 will have cut half-way through the material by the time the knife reaches the position 38a in Figure l0. The effective angle through which the unit I5 has rotated during the cut will be twice the angle as required to cut through the piece 51. The knife 38 will therefore rotate about its cutting edge through an angle equal to 2X. The cut produced by this knife in the material will be approximately at right-angles to the plane of the belt, since the point at which the knife enters the material will be almost directly above the point at which the knife leaves the material.

This actual condition is exaggerated in Figure 12 where the line e-f forms an angle with a vertical line e-g which represents the angular position of the knife 38 as it enters the material 58. The line f-g will be the angle of the knife 38, as it leaves the material. The angles made by the knife as it enters and as it leaves the material are equal to the angle X and it will be seen that the curved line e-g is the actual line of cut through the material. The angle of this cut is approximately one-half X. Since this curved cut is practically too small to be noticed, the effect will be that of a cube with sides e-g at right-angles with the top and bottom of the cube.

Now if the conveyer belt assembly is moved to the right with respect to the cutter l5, in the manner shown in Figure 13, a different result will occur. The line of tangency between the cutter E5 and the pulley 8 will be at the point where a line 55 extending through the axes of the cutter and the pulley crosses the peripheries of the two members. The moving of the pulley 8 to the right with respect to the cutter I5 will bring the support for the belt at a point nearer where the actual cut is commenced by the knife 38. In the arrangement of the parts as indicated in Figure 13, better results may be obtained in the cutting, because the beginning of the cut will be above the pulley il. The angle of the cut made in the material will also be slightly changed.

In the actual cutting or dicing of the material it may happen that some materials will be compressed sufciently during the cutting operation to remain in the dies formed by the discs and the cross-knives, and this material will be forced out by the succeeding pieces of material entering the cutter. Still other materials may be so loosely received in the dies that they will require the guard 16 to retain the cut pieces in the dies until they drop .into the interior of the cutter by gravity.

Referring to Figure i4, it will be noted that the diameter of the opening 3| is determined by the diameter of the shaft 26. The radius of the circle Ilia is determined by the angle X selected. The diameter of the inner edge 29a of the ring 29 is determined by the depth of the disc rim selected. The outer diameter of the dicer is determined by the size of cube desired. The slits 37 must be of an even number in each ring 29 in order to have the slits disposed diametrically opposite each other. A slight change in either the size of the disc or the size of the cube may be necessary in order to have the parts properly positioned.

It is necessary that the disc blanks be laid out with the slits 3'! arranged in this manner so that the spoke iianges will have their apexes meet on lines coinciding with the inner edges of cross-knives 38. It is also necessary to lay the discs out in this manner in order to insure that the slits in succeeding discs when assembled, will be in line across the assembly. The number of knives 38 disposed 'across the width of a spoke may be varied at will and will vary the pitch of the screw formed by the spokes.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. In a device of the type described, a hollow cylindrical dicer formed from a plurality of cutting rings, spokes supporting the rings and arranged as a screw having a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the rings, said screw expelling the material from one end of the dicer.

2. In a device of the type described, a hollow cylindrical dicer formed from a plurality of cutting rings, spokes supporting the rings and arranged as a screw having a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the rings, said screw eX- pelling the material from one end of the dicer, and cross-knives carried by the rings for forming dies that have open ends.

3. A dicer comprising a plurality of cutting rings arranged in parallel order and being spaced from each other, a plurality of cross-knives carried by the rings andforming dies, and spokes supporting certain of the rings and being arranged to form a material ejecting screw within the dicer.

4. In a rotary dicer, a plurality of cutting rings, spokes for the rings and carrying flanges that interlock with each other, the outer ends of adjacent flanges contacting with each other for forming a material ejecting screw that has a plurality of triangular steps.

5. A rotary dicer comprising a plurality of cutting rings revolvable -about an axis, transverse cutters extending across the rings and cooperating therewith to form dies, certain of said rings having supporting spokes, the spokes being arranged to form a material ejecting screw that has a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the rings.

6. A rotary dicer comprising a cylinder with dies in its periphery opening into the interior of the cylinder, triangularly-shaped spokes supporting the cylinder and having their apexes in alignment with the Walls of the dies, said spokes being arranged to form a screw that will eject the material, received from the dies, from one end of the cylinder.

7. A rotary dicer comprising a. cylinder formed from cutting rings and transverse knives that cooperate with the rings to form dies, certain of the rings having supporting spokes with flanges that interlock withI adjacent flanges for forming a material ejecting screw, the flanges forming triangles and the apexes being disposed in alignment with the walls of the dies.

8. In a rotary dicer, a plurality of cutting rings. having slots therein, cross knives received in the slots, spokes for certain of the rings and carrying flanges that interlock with each other, the outer ends of adjacent flanges contacting with each other for forming a material ejecting screw that has a plurality of vtriangular steps, the apexes of the triangles being aligned with certain. of said slots for guiding the diced material into the interior of the dicer.

TIMOTHY F. HORNUNG. 

